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E46 Xi Forum The E46 XI was produced from 01-05 in sedan and touring body styles. Powered by either a 2.5L inline 6 in the 325xi or a 3.0L inline 6 330xi. Discuss all thing about BMW AWD E46 'Xi' here.

I put Eibach pro-kit springs with Bilstein struts on my 2002 325xi about 4k miles ago. I also upgraded to powerflex bushings.

I have a LONG commute (80 miles each way), so maybe it's just too much time in the car... but..

It really seems like my suspension is getting rougher by the day... when I first installed the springs / struts the car seemed very tight. Now every time I hit a crack in the pavement it seems like it shakes the whole car. Is it possible for the suspension to get harsher and the bumps to get nastier in such a short amount of time?

This suspension is not what I wanted, so I'm seriously considering something softer... I'm not sure if it's the eibach's or the bilstien's or even the powerflex bushings that are contributing the most to the harshness. Does anyone have experience with softer setups or maybe has gone through this situation?

I should note that I bought the car 5,000 miles ago, and ran it with the stock suspension for a couple weeks. I thought the stock suspension was much better over these northeast highway potholes and big bumps.

There's one bump where concrete meets asphalt after a bridge that I hit every day.. with the stock setup it soaked it up pretty well,.. with this current setup it's "BAM".. makes me wince

The Eibachs will be stiffer than the stockers but not by much. I would check your install work and make sure the upper shock and strut mounts are still good. Also check the struts and shocks for leakage as they might not be working properly. Bilsteins have been known to leak.

The powerflex bushings will be stiffer than the stock ones too. You did overall stiffen the car quite a bit...

The Eibachs will be stiffer than the stockers but not by much. I would check your install work and make sure the upper shock and strut mounts are still good. Also check the struts and shocks for leakage as they might not be working properly. Bilsteins have been known to leak.

The powerflex bushings will be stiffer than the stock ones too. You did overall stiffen the car quite a bit...

Install work is good, all new mounts. I'm not getting any rattles.. .just harsh

Maybe everything contributed a little huh.

I'll check the struts next time i have a chance... I'd hope they aren't leaking yet!

The rears seem harsher than the fronts, I don't have much weight in the car and the tires are set a few pounds less than factory recommended psi at the rear

Maybe I just need to go back to stock... I like the handling but 3 hours in the car each day is tough if you're counting cracks.

I'd just gotten eibach pro kit today and bilstein sport shocks. After many people saying bilstein is harsh and "too firm" I've decided to send the bilstein back and spend the extra $ on Koni sport for my 2002 xi. Good luck I'd hope they aren't leaking either. I know I'd heard many complain if that too, so I called turner motorsports where I ordered from and they advised that bilstein now ships the set with e36 m3 rears...?

Koni makes an E46 Xi specific set up. That's the one you want, not one for the E36 M3.

Exactly the only reason the e36 m3 was brought up is because I was advised that bilstein now ships their rears with the e36 m3 rear for all e46 by the tms rep. I opted to spend more money and get the koni sport yellow xi specific

First impressions after getting car back today is that the setup is amazing. Koni yellow and eibach pro kit is soft for what it is! Very responsive and comfortable. I'm happy. It didn't get as low as I'd hoped, though I didn't want to be slammed. I hope it settles a bit, but I just think the xi sits higher in general and if I wanted to go real low I'd have needed h&r springs.